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EDUCATION

Karolinska Institute tops university list again

Stockholm's Karolinska Institute has come up trumps in an annual ranking of Sweden's top universities and colleges.

Karolinska Institute tops university list again

Karolinska was joined by the Stockholm School of Economics (Stockholms Handelshögskolan) at the top of the list, which was compiled annually by independent academic group Urank.

“We’ve done this for six years so were not very surprised with the results, it’s more or less the same results every year, just like most rankings,” Urank statistician Stig Forneng told The Local.

“As usual, the bigger universities scored better than the small ones, and the vocationally oriented institutes performed best overall.”

The biggest mover on the list was Karlstad University in southern Sweden, which cracked the top 20 by jumping five places from last year to 17th this year.

The list is put together using a large number of statistical variables. For example, Urank examines the academic quality of students accepted to courses, the weight attached to research, and the proportion of research students with an international background.

However, the ranking does not measure the quality of individual courses. It also disregards the quality of student life and the availability of accommodation, one of the most important issues affecting students’ choice of college or university.

Forneng pointed to the relatively similar lists over the years as typical of Sweden, with a similar trend apparent in China and the US, for example.

He added that Sweden’s traditional universities benefited from their greater resources and more attractive courses for high status professions such as medicine, engineering and veterinary.

“In the top-scoring universities, most of the students needed relatively high marks just to get into the school itself, and accordingly, they find it easier to get jobs when they come out on the other side,” he said.

While Forneng pointed to Karlstad’s jump of five places as the most apparent change on the list, he explained that the small details were where the changes are most interesting, highlighting Jönköping as an example of an institution punching above its relatively small weight.

He added that it wasn’t just the students who could benefit from the list.

“We put together this annual list for the students, but also for the universities themselves. It’s interesting to see how you compete with the other institutions, and it’s possible to compare variable if you want to better yourself,” Foreng told The Local.

Urank’s list of Sweden’s top 29 colleges and universities (with change from last year’s ranking in parentheses)

1. Karolinska Institute (+/-0)

2. Stockholm School of Economics (+/-0)

3. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (+/-0)

4. Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)(+/-0)

5. Uppsala University (+1)

6. Chalmers University of Technology (-1)

7. Lund University (+/-0)

8. Linköping University (+1)

9. Gothenburg University (-1)

10. Stockholm University (+1)

11. Umeå University (-1)

12. Örebro University (+/-0)

13. Jönköping University (+2)

14. Luleå Universtiy of Technology (-1)

15. Södertörn University(-1)

16. Malmö University (+/-0)

17. Karlstad University (+5)

18. Linnaeus University (+/-0)

19. Mälardalen University (+/-0)

20. Blekinge Institute of Technology (+1)

21. Borås University (-4)

22. Halmstad University (-2)

23. Mid Sweden University (+2)

24. Gävle University (+2)

25. Dalarna University (-1)

26. University West (+2)

27. Skövde University (-4)

28. Kristianstad University (-1)

29. Gotland University (+/-0)

Oliver Gee

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EDUCATION

Inquiry calls for free after-school care for 6-9 year-olds in Sweden

Children between ages 6-9 years should be allowed admittance to after-school recreation centers free of charge, according to a report submitted to Sweden’s Minister of Education Lotta Edholm (L).

Inquiry calls for free after-school care for 6-9 year-olds in Sweden

“If this reform is implemented, after-school recreation centers will be accessible to the children who may have the greatest need for the activities,” said Kerstin Andersson, who was appointed to lead a government inquiry into expanding access to after-school recreation by the former Social Democrat government. 

More than half a million primary- and middle-school-aged children spend a large part of their school days and holidays in after-school centres.

But the right to after-school care is not freely available to all children. In most municipalities, it is conditional on the parent’s occupational status of working or studying. Thus, attendance varies and is significantly lower in areas where unemployment is high and family finances weak.

In this context, the previous government formally began to inquire into expanding rights to leisure. The report was recently handed over to Sweden’s education minister, Lotta Edholm, on Monday.

Andersson proposed that after-school activities should be made available free of charge to all children between the ages of six and nine in the same way that preschool has been for children between the ages of three and five. This would mean that children whose parents are unemployed, on parental leave or long-term sick leave will no longer be excluded. 

“The biggest benefit is that after-school recreation centres will be made available to all children,” Andersson said. “Today, participation is highest in areas with very good conditions, while it is lower in sparsely populated areas and in areas with socio-economic challenges.” 

Enforcing this proposal could cause a need for about 10,200 more places in after-school centre, would cost the state just over half a billion kronor a year, and would require more adults to work in after-school centres. 

Andersson recommends recruiting staff more broadly, and not insisting that so many staff are specialised after-school activities teachers, or fritidspedagod

“The Education Act states that qualified teachers are responsible for teaching, but that other staff may participate,” Andersson said. “This is sometimes interpreted as meaning that other staff may be used, but preferably not’. We propose that recognition be given to so-called ‘other staff’, and that they should be given a clear role in the work.”

She suggested that people who have studied in the “children’s teaching and recreational programmes” at gymnasium level,  people who have studied recreational training, and social educators might be used. 

“People trained to work with children can contribute with many different skills. Right now, it might be an uncertain work situation for many who work for a few months while the employer is looking for qualified teachers”, Andersson said. 

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